Now what?

Okay. My oldest son has been diagnosed ADHD. He is going to kindergarten next year, and because he gets services from the IU for emotional and social delays, our public school district sent out a psychologist to evaluate him and make recommendations for next year. I just had our meeting with them, and they were wonderful. I felt like they really were able to figure out who my son was. However, at the end of the meeting, the psychologist said that she does have some concerns that he might also have Asperger's Syndrome. These are the exact words in the written report, "He does present behavioral characteristics that appear consistent with Aspergers' Syndrome. He is currently doing well with a combination of behavioral intervention and medication. His classroom behavior and performance should be monitored as the challence, transition and structure o kindergarten unfold. in the event his behavior deteriorates, the Instruction al Support Team may wish to consider a re-evaluation to determine if Aspergers Syndrome is a coexisting condition and develop interventions accordingly". Now I'm sooo confused. I only recently (about 6 months ago) accepted his diagnosis of ADHD. I've had him evaluated by many different experts (a dev pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a neurologist & a team at childrens who specialize in ADHD, and none of them said Aspergers (although I'm not sure whether he was actually tested for Aspergers). However, this isn't the first time that I've been concerned about Aspergers with him - his teachers at his former preschool were concern, which is what prompted me to get him evaluated in the first place (the school psychologist said that the guy who initially tested my son just tested for full blown autism & not for higher functioning forms of autism?). Anyway, the things that were red flags for the psychologist were the following:
1) Not interested in interacting with the kids in his class, except for one child
2) Extremely bright - especially in math (she did an 'abbreviated IQ test' and he scored in teh 98th percentile).
3) Feels the need to be in control
4) Trouble transitioning
5) Obsession with one child in the class - if she doesn't want to play with him, he gets very upset, and he's even gotten aggressive with other kids who try to play with her.

She also said that it may not be Aspergers and that he just may be on a different playing field than his peers because of his intelligence. But what worries me is that his cousin is also extremely bright, and my ds doesn't show much interest in establishing a real friendship with him, he's more interested in the toys they are playing with than with the child himself. The other thing that worries me is that he does actually get along really well with my friend's child who does have Aspergers. Is this because they BOTH have it, so they understand eachother? I'm so confused.

I called the autism group at our childrens hospital to get an evaluation, but they aren't currently taking new patients. Where do I go from here?

Not interested in interacting with the kids in his class, except for one child
2) Extremely bright - especially in math (she did an 'abbreviated IQ test' and he scored in teh 98th percentile).
3) Feels the need to be in control
4) Trouble transitioning
5) Obsession with one child in the class - if she doesn't want to play with him, he gets very upset, and he's even gotten aggressive with other kids who try to play with her.

Click to expand...

That could have easily been written about my Duckie from ages 3.5 until 5.5. Thankfully, she's doing better. kids this age are a work in progress. Call back the hospital and ask to be placed on a cancellation list if possible. Also, find out who else is accepting patients. And finally, contact your insurance to ask about covered providers. You may even want to contact the school district psychologist to ask for suggestions for a private evaluation.